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Crime Roundup: drugs, guns, assault

Fri, 03/16/2018 - 10:23amVic MacDonald

Apartment in Clinton is site of undercover buys, gun seizure

By:

Vic MacDonald/Editor

Reeves allegedly dealt marijuana to an undercover agent twice in February at 1321 South Broad St., apartment 27, a report said. Another alleged sale occurred March 2, a report said, and Reeves had stored marijuana with digital scales and possessed a Glock 9 mm handgun and a Smith and Wesson semi-automatic 9 mm handgun. He is not entitled to own guns as a convicted felony, a report said.

Guns, drugs seized at apartment; assault is alleged at Ingles grocery

Authorities have identified Jaffa Rabia Reeves as a suspect in an undercover operation Friday that found drugs and guns in a South Broad Street apartment.

A report said Reeves, 24, of 1321 South Broad St., was arrested and charged with three counts marijuana distribution second offense, three counts distribution within proximity of a school or park, a weapons violation and a violation of probation. He allegedly dealt marijuana to an undercover agent twice in February at 1321 South Broad St., apartment 27, a report said.

Another alleged sale occurred March 2, a report said, and Reeves had stored marijuana with digital scales and possessed a Glock 9 mm handgun and a Smith and Wesson semi-automatic 9 mm handgun. He is not entitled to own guns as a convicted felony, a report said. A probation report said Reeves had these guns, with rounds chambered, and an AR-15 assault-style rifle with a 30-round magazine.

Based on a probation home visit, the suspect also was found to have been in possession of two high capacity 30-plus round 9 mm handgun stick and drum magazines for a Glock. Reeves was accused of being behind on required payments, and not following the instructions of his probation agent.

A woman at the address was arrested and charged, and released on bond, for allegedly allowing Reeves to sell marijuana from the apartment.

A Laurens man was arrested and charged in connection with the discovery of 31 grams of meth and 37 firearms.

Authorities identified the suspect as Shane Frick Taylor, 36, of 21024 Hwy 76 East, Laurens, and a report said he was served with nine warrants after the execution of a search warrant last Wednesday. In addition to approximately 31 grams of methamphetamine, the suspect allegedly was found in possession of Alprazolam, Acetaminophen and Hydrocodone, and 28 ounces or less of marijuana, and he has prior narcotics-related convictions, a report said.

Charges against Taylor include trafficking in meth, possession of a controlled substance (two warrants), simple possession of marijuana, all third or subsequent offenses, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime (drug trafficking), possession of a weapon by a person convicted of a violent crime, and receiving stolen goods (three warrants).

The warrants allege that among the guns that were a Mossberg Rifle and a Hi-Point 9mm firearm, both stolen.

In a separate incident, an 18-year-old Clinton man was held on $150,000 bond for an alleged domestic violence incident at Ingles in Laurens.

Sincere Traveon Hunt, of 103 Stratford Place, Clinton, was accused of punching his girlfriend in the stomach last Tuesday afternoon. EMS was called to the scene because the victim was experiencing complications to a pregnancy. Hunt took her to work, then came back to get her to leave work, a report said. He pushed her and punched her, a report said, and store employees tried to intervene. When they called 911, the suspect left the scene, a report said.

Hunt was charged with First Degree Domestic Violence and Breach of Peace of a High and Aggravated Nature.

He already had been charged in connection with an alleged strong arm robbery at the Ingles in Clinton. Last week, another man - identified as Quantez Lee McGowan, 18, of 1606 South Bell Street, Clinton - was charged along with Hunt with attempted armed robbery in the Dec. 29 incident.

McGowan allegedly was in a vehicle with Hunt when Hunt presented a gun to a victim and demanded all the victim’s belongings. There was a third person in the vehicle, a report said. Bond for McGowan was set at $25,000.

Laurens authorities also reported an arrest and charge in an alleged March 5 strangulation domestic violence case.

The suspect was identified as Terence Nigel Johnson, 37, of 255 East Main St., apartment 17, Laurens, who was charged with First Degree Domestic Violence. He is accused of throwing a woman against a wall and strangling her. The suspect is alleged to have placed his hands around the victim’s neck to restrict airflow leading to “a state of physical disorientation.”

Bond for the suspect was set at $40,000.

On Sunday, a Gray Court man allegedly assaulted a victim and held the victim and two others in a house while holding a knife.

Authorities identified the suspect as Michael LeQuincy Walker, 40, of 1133 Cheeks’s Circle, Gray Court. He was arrested and charged with First Degree Assault and Battery, Kidnapping and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. The incident happened at a Cheeks Circle residence, a report said.

Walker is accused of holding a kitchen knife at a woman’s throat, threatening harm, and confining three people (two juveniles) in the residence by taking their cellphones and disconnecting the house phone.

Authorities allege that a Clinton man terrorized a neighborhood last month.

Charges were filed against Quinten Ross Ellis Jr., 19, of 1404 South Bell St, unit two, Clinton, for alleging “to the terror of the people” firing into buildings in the Bailey Street area of Clinton on Feb. 17. Ellis is charged with breach of the peace of a high and aggravated nature, and malicious damage to property.

A shed was damaged on Beauregard Street Extension, a report said, and shots were fired at two Bailey Street and one Beauregard St. Extension addresses.

In a separate report, the State Law Enforcement Division reported an arrest involving a person at Whitten Center in Clinton.

The suspect was identified as Melissa Renea Bennett, 47, of 3761 Harris Springs Rd., Cross Hill, and she is accused of kicking a victim in the knee as he was sitting on the floor. A report said the incident happened on June 2, 2017. The victim lives at Whitten Center, a report said, and the alleged assault was witnessed by another staff member.

A Gray Court man faces charges in connection with the alleged theft of property.

The suspect was identified as Quinton Glenn Eaton, 38, of 2945 Cowen’s Bridge Road, Gray Court, charged with grand larceny, receiving stolen goods and a gun charge. The suspect allegedly had a Rossi .38 Special with ammunition at his residence on Feb. 20, as a felon convicted of a violent crime. Bond was denied on the eight charges.

He is accused of taking personal property ($250) from a man at a motel, 102 Bolt Dr., Laurens. He was held on $20,000 bond.

In a separate report, Eighth Circuit Solicitor David M. Stumbo announced last Wednesday that a Laurens man will spend the next 25 years in prison for sexually abusing two girls under the age of 12.

Tito Olan Marin, 42, entered guilty pleas last Tuesday afternoon at the Laurens County Courthouse, a statement said, after his case was called to trial by the State, on two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

“Our society simply does not have any place for monsters like Tito Marin who prey on children to satisfy their own selfish desires,” Stumbo said. “While I wish my office never had to prosecute a single case like this, it provides some measure of reassurance that this sexual predator is now off the streets for many years to come.”

Circuit Judge Frank Addy Jr. sentenced Marin to 25 years in prison on each of the charges, with the sentences to run concurrently. Under South Carolina law, the sentence will be classified as a violent, “no-parole” offense, and will require Marin to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

In March 2017, a fourth-grade student was learning about “good touches and bad touches” and was observed to be weeping during some of the presentation. A teacher asked if she needed to talk and the student disclosed an assault at the hands of Marin in 2014. The school notified the Department of Social Services, who then notified Laurens County Sheriff’s Office, a solicitor’s office statement said.

Investigators began interviewing other family members of the victim. A cousin of the victim, without being told anything about the incident with the victim, told investigators Marin had raped her a number of years before, when she was 10 years old. Both victims said Marin would put a pillow over their face and told them that their parents would not love them anymore if they told anyone what happened.

Deputy Solicitor Dale Scott handled the case for the state, with assistance from 8th Circuit Investigator Walter Bentley and Victim Advocate Rhetta Christian. Marin was represented by Anjelica Hernandez of the Greenville County Bar. Stumbo praised the work of his staff, along with Det. Jared Hunnicutt of the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office, in securing the conviction and lengthy prison sentence.

Clinton authorities arrested and charged Felicia Nicole Williams, 33, in connection with a wreck that damaged part of First Baptist Church on Fedb. 28.

Williams allegedly ran from a traffic stop on Willard Road and, speeding down Broad Street, lost control and overturned a vehicle onto the church's side steps.

The vehicle hit a tree in front of Wells Fargo Bank on South Broad Street, a report said, and it rolled three times before hitting the church. Williams left on foot, but her identification was in the vehicle. She was arrested at her apartment, and was cited for four traffic offenses.

Last Monday, authorities investigated a train-truck collision in Lanford Station.

The 11 a.m. crash was reported on Hwy 92, near Hwy 221, between Laurens and Woodruff. The truck was stuck on a railroad track, and the truck driver escaped injury as a CSX train smashed the truck. No one on the freight train was injured, a report said. There were nine loaded cars and two empty cars on the train.

Early Friday, Clinton Public Safety responded to a wreck that closed a portion of I-26 for about three hours.

A report said at 5 a.m., responding officers found an overturned car under a tractor-trailer, and a person in the car had to be freed from entrapment. The wreck happened about two miles west of “the split” - the I-26 - I-385 interchange, a report said. The victim was medi-vaced by helicopter for treatment. Traffic was detoured at Exit 51 along I-385 North.

After the 5 a.m. wreck, traffic was back to normal by 7:45, a report said. A SC Department of Public Safety advisory at 6:17 a.m. said the Highway Patrol was on the scene investigating, and by 8:05 an advisory said all lanes on I-26 westbound were open.